Delegates Corner

Some general information about areas of interest to 3GPP delegates.

Information about TSGs or WGs

In the Specifications Group section of this site, you will see the Structure of the Technical Specification Groups (TSGs). Each of the four TSGs is made up of several Working Groups (WGs) which deal with specific parts of the TSG’s work.

All of the important information and documents relating to each TSG or WG can be found via the homepage for that group.

 Teach yourself 3GPP in 15 easy lessons and 8 relaxing coffee breaks

Module 1 : The Basics

Module 2 : Meetings

Module 3 : Making contributions which count

Module 4 : Rules and regulations; Following the work

Module 5 : More on meetings - a guide for chairmen

Module 6 : Coffee break

Module 7 : The work plan; managing the work items

Module 8 : More on work items

Module 9 : The Specification numbering system

Module 10 : The life cycle of the 3GPP Spec; ab ovum ad sepulchrum

Module 11 : The drafting rules

Module 12 : The change control regime

Module 12a : Chairman’s hints

Module 13 : Elections; voting rules

Module 14 : Funding; legal small print

OK, so we lied about the number of coffee breaks.

You’ve read the book, now see the movie ... Recorded live at ETSI, June 2009.

 Who can participate as a delegate?

  • Representatives of members of participating Organizational Partners (i.e. Individual Members)
  • Representatives of Organizational Partners
  • Representatives of Market Representation Partners.
  • Representatives of Observers and Guests

 How do I connect to the meeting server?

All is revealed here.

 Officials

Each TSG has a Chairman and up to three Vice-Chairmen who are from member organizations, and a secretary who is usually from the 3GPP support team. The arrangements for WGs are similar, but WGs may have a maximum of two Vice-Chairmen. Contact details of the officialss can be obtained from the homepage of the individual TSG or WG.

See the Elections section of the site for details of the current elections and latest results.

For more information on the election of officials; see the 3GPP Working Procedures.

 Documents Area

Each TSG or WG has a specific documents area allocated on the 3GPP ftp server. This is where you will find the all meeting documents including invitations, agenda, reports, contributions and Change Requests relating to that group.

 Participant Lists – why are they important?

Participation in TSG and WG meetings is recorded by the Support Team. An Individual Member organization’s right to vote in a particular group (TSG or WG) depends on its delegates’ participating - and being recorded as participating - in meetings of that group. Your participation in a meeting is confirmed by your signing the attendance sheet during the course of the meeting (and updating any coordinates which may have changed). The official participation record appears in the secretary’s report of the meeting, and the Individual Member organization you represent will acquire / maintain the right to vote at that meeting.

If you (or a colleague from the same organization) does not attend a group for three "ordinary" meetings, the IM will loose the right to vote at subsequent meetings.

 Contributing

Any 3GPP Individual Member may make a contribution to a 3GPP meeting. Each meeting invitation will contain details of how to register and provide contributions for that meeting. See the Meetings pages for more details.

 Location

Most 3GPP meetings are mainly held in countries / regions in which 3GPP Individual Members are based (Europe, North America, Asia.) Meeting locations tend to reflect the geographical diversity of the TSG and WG participants. Meetings may occasionally be hosted outside these regions by agreement of the delegates and, if necessary, the PCG.

 Hosting

Any 3GPP Individual Member or group thereof may host a meeting. For more information on hosting requirements see here....

 Invitation

Invitations for 3GPP meetings and the necessary logistical information are to be distributed at least 21 days before the meeting to the TSG or WG membership list via e-mail, and also posted on the 3GPP website.

You may also consult the homepage for individual TSG or WGs where you will find the archives of past meetings, and information relating to any future meetings for that group.

 Meeting Document Area

Each meeting invitation will contain details of where the contribution documents are stored. It is advisable for delegates attending a meeting to download the documents available prior to the meeting from the ftp server to their personal computers.

 Document Numbering

Each TSG or WG meeting will have a structured numbering scheme for its documents. Delegates wishing to make contributions must first obtain a document number. For more information on numbering See 3GPP Working Procedures.

 Automatic Document Numbering (ADN)

Some groups use an on-line tool for allocating document numbers. This will be clearly stated in the meeting invitation.

 Meeting Document Templates

Several templates exist for submitting contributions to meetings. These can be found on the respective meeting folder on the ftp server, based on generic templates available in the information directory